


Instinct

by FiveStillAlive



Series: Trickster [18]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Baby, Fluff, Genderfluid Loki, Kidnapping, Kinda, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-12
Packaged: 2019-06-23 11:18:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15605130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiveStillAlive/pseuds/FiveStillAlive
Summary: Having a baby brings powerful instincts to the fore.In Loki's case, they don't match the Asgardian expectations he was raised with.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Trickster series is back! I give up, I'm just going to keep writing it forever! Or as long as it keeps chattering in my brain, anyway!

Thor watched his daughter. She could sit up now. Sit up, and lean forward, and get her legs under her to crawl, and if she didn't start crawling today, it would surely be soon.

But it was not this moment. She gave a little squawk, and Thor passed her the toy that had her focus.

“Loki. She will be crawling soon.”

“I am aware.” Loki was in Thor's chair, nearby, reading yet another book about Fae. Fae magic, Fae history, Fae biology - that last especially was a scattered, inconsistent thing, to Loki's annoyance. The Fae were secretive, and did not seem to understand other kinds’ obsession with consistent physical forms. Many Fae were not particularly skilled shapeshifters, but even they didn't seem to be overly attached to the precise arrangements of their bodies.

So he’d gathered from Loki, anyway. Loki had been understandably taken with the subject, since discovering his own Fae parentage.

“Loki….”

“I don't know yet!”

He had, at least, let Thor announce the birth of their child. That had caused some political fuss, since Loki had been secretive about the pregnancy to the end. But the council could hardly object now, and it had helped that he had been able to present an infant that looked as Asgardian as any. They had since discovered that their child was a shapeshifter, like Loki, but that was no business of the council’s.

It had been a bit awkward, however, not to be able to announce their daughter's name.

“You have to name her, brother. Or I will.”

“You promised me the name!” Loki said swiftly, pouncing on that.

“I did, yes. But you must choose one.”

Loki sank down in his armchair, unhappily.

“Loki…. I do not think her name is going to come to you. She was not born of your magic like Sleipnir and Fenrir.”

“I was inspired for her creation. She's partially of my magic.” he grumbled. “She can shift.” Then he made a noise of disgust. “I’ve picked up your habit. We do not know if she is a she!”

“I’m not going to call her ‘it’ until further notice. I will take an educated guess, and adjust as indicated.” He scooped her up as he stood. It was an old argument, which he was beginning to realize Loki used to divert his attention.

He set Princess Toy-Thrower on Loki's lap, forcing him to hastily put his book away and snake a supportive hand around her. It didn't matter to Loki that Laughy-Toes was capable of sitting - she might possibly topple over and fall. He pulled her close, with that beautiful vulnerability on his face, shoulders relaxing at having his child back.

Thor knelt between Loki’s knees, glowing with happiness at watching the way Loki adored their child. He thought, a bit smugly, that once she grew to the stage of not wanting to be held constantly, he would have no trouble convincing Loki to have another.

Siblings were important.

“Choose a name, brother.”

“Give me until she’s weaned. It may still come.”

“I gave you until she crawls.” He circled his thumbs on the insides of Loki’s knees. “I was thinking… Frigga would be a good name.”

Loki tensed under his hands, and drew their baby a little closer. “No.”

Thor gave him a questioning look.

“You can’t… we can’t… replace her like that. She….” He shook his head. “No. Nor will I have that hanging over our child.”

Thor nodded, throat tight, as seeing Loki’s grief rekindled his own.

They were silent a moment.

Squirmy Boots made a noise to fill it, and kicked around in Loki’s hold. Loki made a soothing noise, and let her wriggle about on him with more freedom.

“You have to pick one, Loki. I’ve been filling in the gaps with the most ridiculous things.”

Loki sighed. “I was considering Brun.”

Thor blinked in surprise at actually getting an answer.

“Valkyrie doesn’t use it. She said she’s the last, so she’s living for all of them now, but… it’s a good name. A valkyrie’s name.” Loki didn’t look at him.

Thor stared. This was the first hint he’d had that Loki imagined strength, and glory in battle, and such Asgardian things for their child.

Loki glared at the wall. “I’ve told you, she was inspired. By you, you may recall. It was time, and I was full of creation, and you captured me and demanded a child of flesh. You directed my power, and filled me with your own to make her.”

Thor laughed a bit, captured Loki’s hand, and kissed it. “Is that how you saw it? How did we ever not know you were Fae?”

“That is what happened.”

“I suppose so.” Loki had woken him in her madness, saying it was time and demanding Thor's seed. Thor had pinned her and refused until she promised not to make a monster, then they'd had recklessly enthusiastic sex. “It is a good name. We should ask Valkyrie for permission.”

“I did. She's honored, of course.”

“You asked her before saying anything to me?”

“Mmm.”

Their baby - Brun - suddenly vanished in a sapphire flare. Thor was starting to get used to this, but couldn't help his chest freezing in terror every time. He straightened his posture to see not the bird or mouse he'd expected, but a small snake coiling in Loki's lap.

Loki picked her up, letting her coil around his hand, murmuring actual baby talk and stroking their daughter.

Thor let out a breath. “Where did she learn a snake?”

Loki smirked. “From me.”

\------------------

Loki watched his child. She was sleeping peacefully in her crib. She could take four different forms now, including her Asgardian one, and Loki was sure it would be five soon. He was certain she’d want to mimic her beloved brother and turn into a little wolf pup, once she could comprehend his entire huge form.

Fenrir would be delighted. Fenrir was delighted by everything Brun did. He spent far less time out in the depths of the forest now, wanting to be close at hand for his tiny sibling.

Loki knew the feeling. But wasn't sure she was handling it as well.

She watched her child. His child. Fuck, she couldn't keep track of himself anymore! While pregnant, she'd worn an enspelled armband to bind her form, and let her mind wander loose. Now that she could shift freely again, she found her form flowing between the two all too often. As if she hadn't had enough trouble feeling connected to her body of late. She had to bring herself back under conscious control. Himself.

He worried he was going to be the bad parent. He was going to be the one that hurt Brun, he would be the one to leave scars and unhealing wounds in her mind.

To anyone else, he supposed that would seem obvious. Thor was perfect, and Loki chaotic and dangerous. But to his own mind, it had always been Thor's parentage of their child that filled her with anxiety. It was HER child, born of power and instinct and deep needs, so of course she would always be a good parent, that was obvious.

Until recently.

Thor was so like Odin, in too many ways. Or, no, he was like what Odin had wanted to be. Thor had spent a thousand years under Odin's thrall. Loki loved him and was safe with him and trusted him and always, always, unendingly, feared him as the extension of Odin he had been for so long.

Having a child with him had especially brought those fears to the surface. He had been terrified Thor would reject their child, and that fear had not faded with Thor's constant, delighted love for her. What if Brun did something strange, became something strange, and Thor….

But now, with Brun slowly growing from infancy, Loki wondered if he would be the one to hurt her.

Fenrir had been so easy. He had grown quickly, far too quickly, and become independent long before he reached full size. He bound Loki to Asgard as never before, and Loki had shortened his trips, disliking being away for long.

Brun was not approaching independence. He could not leave her. Not for a single day. The idea squeezed him inside.

But he was getting restless. He craved chaos and challenge and games. He wanted to manipulate and trick.

He’d learned to channel these urges into things that would serve Asgard. He left and won trade agreements and alliances. He set enemies fighting among themselves. He found treasures and technologies.

By trickery.

That was what he was.

Thor liked his own adventures, but he liked to return to a stable and pleasant home when they were over, and he liked them to be over soon. Loki liked their stable and pleasant home because Thor was here, and now his growing family, but returned to the stability of it only reluctantly.

He was going mad being here so long. If he didn't go soon, he was certain he would start pulling at Asgard’s threads, just to see it fall apart. And he couldn't do that, because it would harm Fenrir and Brun.

He couldn't leave. He was trapped here, going mad and restless. Trapped.

By Brun.

That was what terrified him most. That he would come to resent his child. He would be the one to scar her, he would be the one she grew up to be wary of, he would be the one to make her uneasy in her own skin.

There was only one thing for it.

He turned to Thor, next to him in bed, and kissed him gently awake.

“Mmm, Loki. What?”

“I have to go.”

Thor grunted disappointment, and put an arm over him in sleepy protest.

Loki smiled. Thor was quite charming, sleepy.

Well, Thor was always charming.

“You knew I’d have to eventually. I can’t stay. I’ve started plotting against the entire council. And Faden’s students are terribly fun to manipulate.”

Thor squeezed him. “For how long?”

“Only a few days. Four at the most.”

He hummed against Loki's neck, managing to convey disappointment he was going, and pleasure at his answer all at once. “Where?”

Loki let out a little breath of laughter. Thor knew he wouldn't tell. Telling him he was going, and how long, was already more than usual.

“Mmm.” Thor rolled them over, pinning Loki. “Can I give you a proper goodbye?”

Loki smirked up at him. “Why do you think I woke you?”

Thor rumbled, and began nuzzling Loki's throat. Loki moaned, and wound his fingers in Thor's hair.

Their loud, dramatic sex had softened these last months, in deference to the baby sleeping just feet away. No more roughness, no screaming their pleasure. In a few more weeks, Brun would be moved to her own room, with a nursemaid, and Loki was already planning the things he would do to Thor.

He wanted to destroy the nursemaid. He wanted to fight time itself for daring to take his baby. He wanted-

Thor gave his collarbone a little nip. “Baby's asleep. Pay attention to me.”

Loki chuckled softly. “I thought I was the jealous one.”

“I’m never jealous.” Thor smirked at him. “But I am greedy.”

Loki ran his nails lightly up Thor's side, earning a delighted shiver. “Mmm, I thought that was me as well.”

“Eager, then.” Thor kissed down his chest, slowly. “Take your female form, brother. Brun should have a sibling.”

He smiled up at him, playfully, as if Loki didn't know how much he wanted that. “Brun has a sibling. She and Fenrir adore each other.”

“Fenrir cannot join her in navigating Asgardian politics, or help her with her studies, or share disastrous romantic advice. She should have a sibling her own form.” He licked over Loki's nipple. “I seem to recall a few times I was glad to have such a sibling.”

He laughed. “Oh, I see! You’re planning on heading one of those royal families who never breed out! Really, brother.”

“Not at all my intention. But sibling bonds are important.”

So serious. He worked his fingers deep into Thor's hair, to massage his scalp, and watched his eyes drift closed in pleasure. “It isn't my time, anyway.”

“It shouldn't have to be.” Thor murmured. “Your body seems to have a normal Asgardian reproductive system. Which means you should be able to get pregnant just about any time.” Asgardians were so excessively fertile.

“Mmm. Hear me now, Odinson, I will never give you a child of my body without my magic. I will not be such a vessel for you.”

“Dramatic Fae.” He ran a hand lazily over Loki's hip.

“I invite you to try your best to get this form pregnant.”

Thor took the invitation, sliding a hand lovingly up Loki’s inner thigh, spreading his legs. “I am a god of fertility.”

It was sweet and gentle, them quietly loving each other. Thor's cock buried deep inside him, and Thor held him like he could transmit love by pressure, and Loki kissed and caressed him because he knew his skin was more to be trusted than his tongue.

After, he threaded just a touch of magic into his kiss, to help Thor back to sleep, and summoned his own clothes back on.

He crossed quietly to Brun’s crib, and smiled down at her. She was awake after all, and made an excited noise at seeing him.

“Shh, loved one.” He gathered their child into his arms to hug her and smell her hair, and cast one brief, guilty look toward Thor.

Then he took Brun with him, and slipped out into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr: <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive>


	2. Chapter 2

Thor stormed into Loki's ship, all but crackling lightning, the moment their two ships docked together. He had been chasing his mad brother for two days, and intended to bring him to heel!

Loki hissed, but kept his fury quiet, for Brun cradled against his chest, playing with the fastenings of his armor. Brun turned to see him, and made a happy squeal.

“She's my child, not even weaned yet! She comes with me!” Loki started to back away, as Thor got closer.

Thor's voice dropped low as well, but his fury didn't. “Our child! And we have other ways of feeding her! How could you bring her into danger?” Loki's back hit the wall, and Thor caught up with him. He reached out to take Brun, automatically, and Loki clutched her close, eyes going wide with panic, their familiar game of chase and catch going suddenly serious.

Thor stopped, seeing his fear.

No, of course, he must never take a child from Loki. There would be no coming back from that. “I am not taking her from you.” He said, taking a deep breath, pushing away his anger at his trouble-making brother. “I haven't seen my daughter in two days. Loki.” He held his arms out, expectantly.

Loki hesitated, then took a small step forward and carefully passed her to him.

Thor smiled, as Brun made a loud, excited yell, reaching for him. She pawed his face, getting kissed fingers, and grabbed at his hair, then settled in his arms. He bent to kiss her head, and breathe in her scent. Their child. He smiled at Loki, who was still looking annoyed.

Yes, right, they were arguing.

Because Loki had taken their child!

“What were you thinking!” He kept his voice low, but the anger was still in it.

“I can't stay, and I can't be away from her. I took her with me.”

“Into danger!”

“She’s perfectly safe; I would never bring her-”

“Don't pretend you’re safe when you go offworld! It's bad enough you go, and I never know what you're doing, but we have a child-”

“I know how to come out on top! I accounted for Brun’s vulnerability! I am the god of mischief and-”

“You don't have to be!”

Loki's mouth snapped shut, and they were both silent a long, dangerous moment.

He took a slow breath. Best get it out. “You can change your nature. Even gods change.”

Loki waited another slow breath, before hissing “Change into what?”

Thor clutched Brun a bit closer, automatically preparing for Loki to attack.

“God of maternity? Of hearth and home? God of bearing Thor's children?”

Ah. “Well....”

“Perhaps I can second out into something nice and safe. God of libraries, perhaps?”

“Loki....”

“Is that what you intended? You thought I would have your child, then have another, and restrict myself to harmless little amusement, and eventually forget all about my trickster ways, tamed by your magnificent sperm?”

“I didn't... ‘intend’....”

“Hoped? Dreamed of? Did you truly think you could fuck me into obedience?”

“I thought you would care about the safety of our children, and prioritize it over your self-indulgent thrill seeking!”

“I have rebuilt Asgard’s position as a power in this galaxy!”

“You don't need to any more, you-”

“Of course! I should only use my nature when it serves the mighty throne of Asgard! You- You arrogant- Give me the baby!”

Thor jerked back, alarmed. “Why?”

“I’m putting her in her crib, so I can stab you, you arrogant ass!”

Thor blinked, then passed Brun to him.

Arguing with Loki was always like this. He could twist anything, spin things around to make Thor feel foolish and guilty for ever questioning him. Thor had no such skill with words, in the heat of the moment. And over the last years, he had learned that many of his assumptions were wrong. But however Loki turned things, he was certain that their infant child should not be going along on Loki's dangerous offworld travels.

He watched as Loki hummed a soothing melody, and rocked their child, carrying her to a heavily reinforced, rather elaborate looking... crib? It looked like a paranoid version of an escape pod. Loki kissed Brun, and tickled her a bit, and bopped her on the nose with a stuffed wolf, then closed the pod. Then he walked back to Thor, looking furious.

“Let's see, you were belittling both my nature and my work, I called you an ass.... Ah, yes.” He struck out at Thor in a flash, with a knife Thor hadn't even seen.

Thor dodged it, barely, and shoved Loki back towards the bulkhead. Loki tripped him up, taking them both to the ground, where Thor quickly pinned his brother, then flailed as gravity seemed to go sideways. Loki kicked him in the face.

Thor was the better fighter, but didn't want to really hurt Loki. Loki always had the dual advantage of being a dirty fighter and hardly ever holding back.

Growling, Thor released just a bit of lightning into the trickster, and got a yelp. For a moment he thought he had Loki pinned, then Loki reached up, viciously grabbed his hair, and yanked him into a kiss that was more like biting.

Thor snarled, grabbed the neck of Loki's armor, and tore it open down to his thighs, in one brutal tear. Loki gasped, and made another attempt at stabbing his ribs.

Thor forced Loki over, where it would be harder to stab him, grabbed the back of his armor, and tore just the same, leaving sleeves and what covered his thighs down, and nothing else but shreds.

Hmm, no lube. He twisted Loki’s hands behind his back, while Loki snarled at him, and rubbed the bulge of his cock against Loki's lovely, exposed ass. “Can you never simply ask, trickster?”

“It's so much more fun to drive you!” Then he yowled, loudly, as Thor ducked down and licked his entrance.

“Shh, brother, the baby.” Thor said, smugly. He did miss making Loki yell.

“It's soundproofed! Ah! Thor!” He writhed wildly as Thor slid his tongue into him.

“Do you even like mischief?” Thor purred, pulling back to kiss over the soft skin of Loki's thighs. He forced them apart enough to get access to his sensitive inner thighs, chose a good point, and bit hard. Loki howled. “Do you, trickster? Or do you just like making me discipline you?”

“‘Discipline me’!” Loki scoffed, though it sounded forced, while he was writhing under Thor so. “You play at it, Asgardian, no more!”

Thor chuckled, and buried his tongue in Loki again.

Loki groaned. “Deeper!”

Thor growled, and fucked his tongue deeper into him.

In an instant, Loki's magic spread out, changing the ship into deep woods, and putting Loki in the clothes of a Fae courtier out on a pleasure hunt. “Oh, King of Asgard! I have heard of your brutal ways; please be gentle!”

Which was apparently meant as a distraction, allowing Loki to shift his position enough to get in a good kick as soon as Thor lifted his head to answer, and spring free. He spun at once, pounced on Thor, and held a knife to his throat. Thor’s clothes and the illusion dissolved away between them.

Good.

Thor reached up, catching Loki hard around the waist and with a forceful grip to his hair, and drove him down onto Thor’s cock.

“Ah! Yes! Yes, Thor! Harder!” Between both of their enthusiasm, Loki was soon bouncing on Thor’s cock so much that Thor couldn’t help but laugh.

His brother, his lover, his Loki. A knife to his throat, crying pleasure at his cock, all to distract him from a squabble over his own recklessness. Thor loved him so much.

Loki came, spasms of pleasure restrained by Thor’s unyielding grip on his hips and hair.

He made helpless, gorgeous little noises as Thor kept fucking up into him. His knife slid from his fingers, and and he stroked Thor's face, whimpering. “Too much!”

Thor grinned, delighted at that, and spun to pin Loki, this time catching his wrists. Loki wailed, as he was thrust mercilessly into.

“What's that, silvertongue? You want me to show you your place?”

“Please! Yes! Thor, yes!” He struggled against Thor's hands, and his insides were twitching and frantic around Thor's cock, far too sensitive now. “Thor!”

Tears were beginning to well in his eyes, and that did it, sending Thor well over the edge, shoving deep into his troublemaking trickster, and filling him with Thor’s spill.

He collapsed on Loki, panting, and when his head began to clear Loki was tenderly massaging the nape of his neck. He glanced at Brun’s crib, and found her sound asleep. He nuzzled Loki's throat.

“I’m less angry, but this doesn't solve anything.”

Loki started combing through his hair. “There's nothing to solve. No, listen.” His voice was lazy and relaxed, but still serious. “She's my daughter too. The safety and stability of Asgard, those are your things. Instability is my domain. She belongs here as well.”

“She is the heir to Asgard’s throne. And you said yourself she was inspired to fit Asgard. I know she is yours, but she belongs on Asgard.” Thor kissed along Loki's neck, pleased to still feel his pulse racing. “If you want to share your travels with her, wait until she's older.”

“When will she be old enough that you will be comfortable with her facing danger?”

“Beyond infancy.”

Loki sighed, as if Thor were being entirely unreasonable. “You can't think I’d bring her into-”

A weapon blast rocked the ship.

Thor looked at Loki pointedly.

Loki refused to look remotely embarrassed, and stood very casually.

Thor stayed right where he was, naked on the floor, folded his arms behind his head, and watched Loki, enjoying it. Loki summoned new clothes and went to his com screen, and put his silver tongue to work. Their attackers turned out to be pirates, but Loki knew their boss, which Thor rose an eyebrow at. A few threats wrapped up as polite compliments sent them on their way.

“See, brother? No danger at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr: <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive>


	3. Chapter 3

Loki cursed her ship, still caught in Asgard’s hangar. Brun, in her mouse form, was currently being kept out of trouble by a ring of engine parts surrounding her, and Loki added another part to the makeshift playpen. She peered back into the engine compartment and scowled.

No matter how much she tried to rearrange things, her ship wouldn't get off the ground without a style B converter. And, since her original ship had long since been replaced by any number of trades, thefts, and bets, into something entirely un-Asgardian, style B converters were not used by any other ship in the hangar.

It was clever. If Thor had used his position as king of Asgard to block Loki, Loki would have been furious, and extracted dramatic revenge. If he had ordered Loki's ship grounded, or set guards against her, it would have been intolerable. But personally stealing parts from her ship was entirely fair cheating.

A flick of magic rushed all the parts she did have back into place, and she scooped up Brun. Time to go see Thor.

\----------------

“Very well, you win!” she announced, interrupting her brother as he was looking over some kind of city layout map.

Oh, it looked like the council was finally making progress on the plans to expand over the North River. Their conference had clearly just let out, and Loki perched next to Thor to get a better look at the plans, and made a noise of interest.

Thor snaked an arm around her waist. “Oh?”

“Yes, I won't take Brun on my travels until she's a more suitable age.” She pulled together a ring of abandoned mugs, and dropped Brun into its center. “I’ll just stay put on Asgard for a bit longer.”

“... Really?”

“Yes.”

“And you won't start tearing everything apart?”

“It will be difficult, but I will restrain myself. I don't want to be away from her at this age.” She sighed sadly, and rested her head on Thor's shoulder. “Shame.”

Thor huffed. “You are certainly shameless. What trap are you leading me to, sorcerer?” He kissed the top of her head.

“No trap. I’m just disappointed. I can endure being stuck for a couple years once, but not over and over and over again. I was coming to think pregnancy was actually rather enjoyable, in retrospect, and I certainly like having a baby. I wouldn't mind having more, I think. But I will not give up my freedom for it.” She was a god. She shouldn't have to.

Thor groaned. “I knew there was a trap. You’d use our children as bargaining chips?”

“Potential children we haven't had yet? Certainly.”

But Thor was always one to focus on the positive. He gleefully dragged her onto his lap, straddling him, skirt bunching awkwardly. “And you wore a skirt.” he purred. “You want another child.”

“On the condition that you give up your attempts to keep me here.”

“You know Brun should have a sibling that shares her form. Her usual form.” Two fingers were questing upward under her skirt, as if uncertain what they would find.

“I know you think so.” She rocked her hips against his. “Do you think it's important enough to give me my style B converter?”

Thor chuckled. “If I were as tricky as you, I’d just wait for you to get broody again. You were in no state to bargain last time.”

Loki gasped, with a mix of excitement and fear. Thor being manipulative and controlling was an intolerable reality, but an excellent game.

They spent a few minutes cuddling and petting in silence, just enjoying each other, even when they could not agree.

Thor sighed, and looked over at Brun, when she turned back to her Asgardian form. “Are you aware you build faery rings for her?”

“Don't be dramatic. I just didn't want her getting lost as a mouse.”

“You do it all the time, no matter what form she's in. And I’ve watched her in them, she never goes to the edge or tries to escape, even when she's a bird.”

Loki frowned, considering. She hadn't entirely come to grips with being Fae. Even she agreed that taking an infant into fae territory was dangerous, so she had not been back since discovering what she was. There was so much not in books.... “What of it?” she asked, challengingly.

“Nothing; just wondered if you knew.”

Hmm. “Well, I am Fae.” It still sounded strange. She smiled, a thought occurring to her. “In fact, you’re getting off easy. Fae are known for stealing children. At least I only want to steal my own. And I’ll bring her back.”

Thor put his head on her shoulder, and groaned.

She stroked his hair. “Don't you get restless? Being king all the time?”

He sighed, and tilted his head up into her fingers. “A little, sometimes. But… we can't know this peace will last. I want to appreciate it while it does.”

“How very wise.” Unmoving power always rankled her. The stabler Asgard became, the more irresistible a target. But Fenrir was here. Brun was here. She had set her own hostages. Asgard was forever safe from her.

Thor, on the other hand....

She continued combing his hair, happily contemplating what trouble she might cause for him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Brun pick up a mug inside her ring, and start curiously mouthing its rim. How thoroughly Asgardian.

“Your daughter is already developing a taste for mead, brother.”

Thor looked up, spotted Brun now spilling the remains of the drink over herself, and smiled broadly.

It was a very good smile. Perhaps Loki didn't need to arrange anything too unpleasant to keep him on his toes.

“Just to be clear,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck, “when you said I win....”

“Mmm, all lies.”

“Right.”

\----------------------

Loki sat with Brun in the still of the night, feeding her child and watching Thor sleep.

Faery rings. Once Thor had pointed it out, it was obvious he was correct. She hadn't even realized she was doing it.

And her comment to Thor about stealing children. A joke? She’d meant it as one, but… Fae did steal children. And an urge to take Brun and never return kept spiking at her mind.

When she had taken Brun the first time, she had had every intention of returning soon. She’d known Thor wouldn’t like it, but hoped he would accept it. But he hadn’t. He had chased her down and brought her home. The more she thought of it, the more she hated it. He did not control her! She refused to accept it! She would not be contained so!

She tried to be calm. Thor was Brun’s parent too. He of course would protect her. But the restrictions chaffed. They were intolerable, no matter how she tried to accept them.

Worse, Thor was the source of them. Thor was putting restrictions on her, exercising authority over her, trying to control her. Every time she thought of it, she felt Odin. Odin had contained her, restrained her, tried to control her travels, her form, her breeding. He had taken her child! She tried not to think of Thor as an extension of Odin. She tried to forget all the times he had been. It was harder now.

Brun squirmed, and she moved her to the other side.

Thor wasn’t being unreasonable, she knew that. It was safer here. Brun should stay here. She should either endure staying, or go without Brun. If she stayed, she was certain Thor would be very patient about any mischief she caused. If she went, she was certain Thor would take better care of Brun than anyone else in the galaxy, possibly including herself. She was being utterly unreasonable. Other parents managed to share their children with the second parent, without wanting to destroy a world.

Asgardian parents did, anyway.

She wasn’t Asgardian. And for all her reading on the Fae, they were strange and secretive about children. She had no idea how they raised them. It seemed reasonable that having a child would draw up powerful instinctive drives; perhaps what she was feeling was her Fae nature.

Or perhaps it was the power of suggestion. Now that she knew she was Fae, it became a convenient scapegoat.

It was all tangled in her mind. How much was instinct, how much was trauma from Odin taking her first born, how much was her own stubborn desire to have things all her own way? Did she really need to keep Brun with her? Or was she angry at Thor for being Odin’s son?

But this had been growing in her, poison and sharp, since before she’d even given birth. She hadn’t even been able to let Thor in to see his own child born. Every time she gave her to Thor, she had to fight the urge to refuse, and every time she got her back it was a relief. And ever since Thor had caught her and brought her back, her anxiety over him controlling her had grown, even as she fought to bury it.

If she let this keep festering inside, it would poison everything. She would grow to hate Thor. She would take his child forever, perhaps - unforgivable - or withstand it until she could stand to leave Brun in Asgard’s safety, and then flee herself. Or she would simply lash out at Thor, and destroy everything they had.

She couldn’t stay here and let this continue.

Brun had finished, and was sleepy and warm in her arms. She gathered her up, and slipped out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr: <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive>


	4. Chapter 4

Thor woke to the feeling of a still, empty room.

Loki was gone. Not unusual.

He looked quickly to Brun's crib, and swallowed back sudden nausea. She was gone too.

Loki had taken her again. Thor felt sick at the prospect of going after him. Loki had tolerated it once well enough, but….

Power between them was an uneasy thing, which they had been trying to avoid clashing over these last years. The unspoken arrangement was that Loki accepted Thor's authority as King, as long as it was never applied to him. In exchange. Loki mostly kept his mischief from Asgard. Thor had Heimdall keep a bit of an eye on his travels, to ensure Loki never turned his tricks against innocents, and Loki pretended he didn't know they did this.

Thor kept Loki on a leash that restrained him not at all. Loki obeyed Thor's boundaries as long as Thor never enforced them. It was a careful tightrope walk, that worked as long as neither of them looked down.

When Loki had taken Brun before, and Thor had gone after him, they had known they were both violating their unspoken agreement. They had turned it into violent, clothes-shredding sex, in order to pretend it had been no more than play, to pretend they had not wobbled on their tightrope.

If he went after Loki now….

Loki had been strange about their child from the beginning. Possessive and clinging. He shared her with Thor easily, without conflict, but he could see how it distressed him each time. His eyes went wide, his breath caught. Where other new parents grew exhausted by the demands of an infant, and were eager to rest while another took care, Loki hurried to leave nothing Thor needed to do, and tensed with a moment of buried fear when Thor stepped in anyway.

He tried, Thor knew he tried. He kissed and praised Thor for taking such good care of her, and smiled at Thor taking her to show off, and had tried to nap while Thor bottle fed her. He seemed to genuinely enjoy watching Thor care for her, but quietly panicked each time Thor took her even a little bit away. He had had terrible nightmares after that one attempt at bottle feeding. He had agreed to finding a nanny and putting Brun in her own room soon, but Thor suspected it would be a fight when the time truly came.

Thor tried to be understanding. He made certain never to take Brun out of the room without Loki seeing him do so, and even then tried to do so only rarely. He always returned her directly into Loki's arms, not her crib. Loki's first child had been taken by their own father. Thor had been the one to keep Loki, on a battle encampment far from home, far from where he might fight to get his child back. And he knew Loki had not really decided to have Brun; he had not meant to have a slow-growing Asgardian child. He had not made the decision that he was ready for such a thing. He had been in his madness, wanting to create a dragon offspring, or something equally strange, and Thor had taken advantage of his urgent need and wrung agreement to have an Asgardian child from him. Thor tried to give Loki everything he needed to feel safe.

But Loki had taken his child away. Again.

His infant daughter.

He took a deep breath. He would have to go after him. He would pin him down and force some kind of concession from him, then… fuck him until he accepted Thor exercising such authority. He would have to make Loki obey this one rule, keeping their daughter safe, and then somehow make him tolerate the obedience of it.

Loki had a great weakness for being submissive during sex, when the mood struck him. He had often wanted Thor to bind him. Thor could… chain and collar Loki, and force his submission, then keep him in a hedonistic haze of obedience until their child was a bit more grown. Sure. What was a year or two to a god?

It was an obviously impractical plan, but it had some appeal, as he irritably got dressed.

He could.... He could... appeal to Loki's common sense. Yes, that would surely work.

He stormed out of his room, trying to bury his worry under righteous anger, then stopped when he saw light under Loki's door.

He walked toward it, trying not to get his hopes up. Was it possible…?

He opened the door slowly, as if he could creep up on what he wanted, and let out a sigh of deep relief.

\----------------------

Loki stared at the ceiling, sinking deep into his mind.

Sinking.

Breathing.

Each breath taking him deeper.

Brun at his side, arm curled loosely around her.

Instinct.

Instinct, and blood, and need.

He sank, sank to where they lived. The world glossed and unfocused.

The sinking feeling stopped. His breaths came faster, deep and heavy.

Brun. His. He couldn't share.

Heady. Feeling his own instincts, the demands of his blood, rushing inside.

He couldn't leave Brun. He couldn't.

He felt feral. Primal. Powerful. Fae. Free of Asgardian expectations. Behavior. Performance. He had been performing the part of an Asgardian, all this time, never even aware.

His heart was racing. He was wild. Relaxed, lethargic, but himself, wild and genuine, blood rushing, instincts here, telling him what he needed.

His baby.

He lost time. Eyes on the ceiling, thoughts deep inside.

Door. Thor coming in. A relieved sigh.

He must have sensed something, for he approached softly. “I woke and you were gone. What are you doing?”

“Trying to understand these feelings.”

Thor was an unfocused shape, on the edges of his vision. “Some kind of spell?”

A spell. Why would he need to do a spell, when there was so much magic surrounding them, there for the using? He grinned at the ceiling. “Meditation. To separate learning from instinct.” And wallow in the ecstasy of instinct!

“I see.” Thor's voice was soft, awed. “And what are you finding?”

“I can't share her.” His child. He slipped to his side, curled around her, breath heavy and urgent with the need to keep her close.

“She's my child too, Loki.”

No! Loki sat up, arms protectively forming a cage around his baby, almost taking a defensive, snarling stance against Thor, before lethargy fogged him, and he melted down around his child, breathing her soothing scent. “I can’t.”

He wanted to take Brun. His alone.

Take Brun away from Thor. Run.

He trembled, and smelled his child. He wouldn't do that. He wouldn't take a child. No matter what his instincts said.

He wouldn't.

“She's mine. She has to be mine only. She's too young.” Thor had to understand.

“Loki, all parents-”

“No!” Loki's head snapped up, looking Thor's direction, but eyes unfocused. He needed sentences. He needed to explain. “This isn't… normal. I’m not Asgardian! I was raised here. I know how you parent. I understand. This is different. You don't feel this!”

Thor was quiet, and Loki curled back in on Brun. He heard Thor drag a chair, and sit before him.

Loki cringed, a reflexive fear. Odin. Odinson. Thor. Safe. Breath heavy. He caressed Brun, sleeping and his.

“Maybe not. Can you tell me?”

Thor. He tried to put thoughts in order, while not losing this feeling. Sentences. “I… can’t. She's too young. She has to be mine. She…. Any children we have. When they're this young, they have to be mine.”

“How young?”

Thor was considering it! An end to this mad anxiety inside! Hope snuck into him, making it easier to breath, to talk. “Young, this young!” he babbled. “You knew she was mine when I was pregnant! She's still mine, she drinks my milk, she's still part of me, she-” Hard to breath, to explain. “A single biological system! She drinks my milk! She isn't separate yet!”

Thor made a soft noise, thinking. “Like marsupials?”

Loki looked up at him, uncertain.

“They birth their pups, but then the babes stay with them, practically part of their body, even living in folds of their skin. They're not really biologically independent. Is that how it is for Fae?”

He didn't know. Books. They told of Fae history, not how they truly lived. That was why he was doing this. “It must be. This feeling….” Instinct. An important, powerful thing. Loki did not know his ancestors, but through millions of years of evolution, they had left parenting instructions for him, carried in his blood. “I tried. Brother, truly, I have. But you could as much expect me to let you tear her from my womb.”

Thor grimaced. “You think you won't feel this way, when she gets older?”

“I won't!” The words spilled out, quick and needing. “I’m certain I won't! You saw, with Fenrir! He grew so quickly. But you saw! I barely let him out of arm’s reach until he was weaned, but then I let him grow, I let him become independent, you saw that I did!”

Thor let out a breath, thinking.

Loki tried to let him. He would go mad, if Thor couldn't understand. Every time he realized again that he was caught here, that Thor would not let him leave with her, the need to escape became more urgent.

“I don't want to keep her from you.” he said, tone pleading. “I don't want to stop you from seeing her, touching her, even taking care of her! I just… need her to be mine.” Heart racing. Blood.

Thor leaned forward in his chair. “Until she's weaned?”

“Yes!” Yes, yes, his!

He took a deep breath. “You will tell me before you leave with her. When, where, and how long. She is my infant daughter, Loki, you are not the only one of us with protective instincts. You will do this.”

Loki gasped, feeling a sudden ecstasy of relief. He actually moaned with it, and rolled once more onto his back, with Brun cradled triumphantly against his chest. “An acceptable compromise!”

Thor snorted, and Loki smiled up at the ceiling, then he felt the bed dip under his lover's weight. Lover, brother, mate. Thor knelt over him and kissed him; their daughter between them. Loki kissed back, happily.

“Can I put her to bed?”

Loki held her closer, and looked at Thor anxiously.

“Right here, in the crib in your room.”

Loki nodded, and let him take their sleepy daughter. He watched him care and fuss over her, and let himself slip deeper once again. He’d had to pull partially out of the meditation to communicate with Thor, and he supposed he had his answers now, but it felt so good, feeling who he was inside. He’d avoided looking for so long, afraid of finding Jotun ice.

Mmm. Running through the woods would be nice. No clothes would be nice. He melted them away. He wanted Thor to touch him more.

Touch. He stretched on the bed, feeling, watching Thor, breath heavy, skin wanting.

Oh, yes, he wanted.

Thor was at his feet, fingers trailing over his ankles. “Look at you.” he said, softly. “I’ve only seen hints of this side of you. You really aren't Asgardian. You're something else entirely.” He slowly crawled up Loki's body. “Untamable.” His lips brushed against Loki's skin. “You are power without boundary.” His breath teased worshipfully over Loki's navel. Oh, oh, yes! “I was a fool to ever try to contain you.”

Loki couldn't stop moving against the bed, hungry for sensation. His hands were draped above his head, fingers tangling in the sheets. His eyes couldn't focus, he was lost to sensations, to being this.

Thor's tongue flicked out, light against his navel, earning a needy whine. “Meditation to draw up your instincts.” he mused. “I suppose you might have some… other… strong, instinctive drives?” His chest brushed almost accidentally against Loki's cock, already hard and weeping.

“Thor!”

Thor kissed his navel, so, so gently, making Loki arch and stretch and almost come.

“Thor!”

“What I like,” Slow, slow kisses up his belly, and a satisfied hum when Loki vanished his clothes. “is what you did today. Telling me what you want. I absolutely adore it, brother.” Then he slid up Loki like a wave, and was nibbling his ear. “So. You're deep in your own head now, aren't you? Tell me, brother. My precious heart. Tell me what you truly crave.”

Oh! Loki moaned and squirmed, and “Hold me down.” he begged. “Claim me, own me!”

Thor made a pleased noise at that. “Oh? Hold you? My boundless, untamable Fae?”

Loki turned his mouth toward Thor, pleading for a kiss, and got it at once, deep and oh oh, he loved Thor's tongue sliding into him, forceful and- “No fun in running if I never get caught!”

Thor groaned, and he closed his warm, strong hands around Loki's wrists, and Loki gasped and arched and wrapped his legs around Thor, offering himself! “Please! I need you! Deep, please deep!”

He gathered Loki's wrists in one hand, and began preparing him with the other, keeping them pressed close together. “You’re so beautiful, Loki. You're so powerful.” He nipped at Loki's lips. “Your eyes are glowing, love.”

Loki whimpered.

“I could never tame you. I can never keep you. Not if I had a thousand lifetimes. I just have to hope you come back to me.”

He couldn't breathe. Could only be kissed, kissed, oh, Thor's thick cock sliding into him, deep, so deep, so….

“Thor.” he whimpered. “Thor!” So much power….

“Mine.”

“Yours!” he panted. Rocking, filling, energy, Thor, Thor!

“You are mine.” Thor murmured into his ear, cock so deep, hands so tight, body heavy and holding him. “Mine. In all your travels, all your games, remember that no one will hold you like I do.”

“No one!”

Thor kissed his neck, hot and hungry. Lightning was pouring over them both. Yes. Yes! “Mine. The fates brought you to me!”

“Yes!”

“Loki, Loki….” Thor was panting. He sounded frightened, even as his power surrounded and held Loki, even as his thrusts gave Loki everything. Frightened of his own thoughts. “Loki, I-”

“Please, please!” So much, so much!

“I will never let you be free of me.”

Loki yelled and came, power exploding around them, cascading off the bed, crawling up the walls, swamping the floor, the air. Loki clutched Thor close with his legs, and tried to keep his body in one piece, while Thor gasped his name again, again, thrusting and spilling into him.

They melted together.

Loki's eyes slowly regained focus. The meditation and orgasm faded together.

Thor's hands were big and warm, his lips hot on his cheek. “I will always come after you, brother. I cannot hold you, but I will never let you escape.”

“Yes.” Loki cuddled against his brother, happy and glowing, and slept in his arms.

\---------------

“I could come with you.”

“That wasn't the deal.”

“But I could.”

“Really, brother, it's hard enough to resist betraying you as it is. It's better you don't travel with me.”

“Let me send Valkyrie with you, then.”

“This is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our friendship, and I won’t have it.”

“Alright, alright. But you’ll come home soon?”

“Yes.”

“...Because you’re mine?”

A soft smile. Gentle kisses, turning passionate. “Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This series will be continuing! Probably not at the speed I was putting them out before, but continuing!
> 
> \----------
> 
> Comments and kudos very much appreciated!
> 
> I'm on Tumblr: <https://www.tumblr.com/blog/runnerfivestillalive>


End file.
